


Better Than Nothing

by campanellis



Category: Degrassi, Degrassi High, Degrassi Junior High
Genre: He is doing so well, Mostly just his feelings after failing, So there are things/characters not mentioned or expanded on in the show, This is heavily based off of his book
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:02:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26306776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/campanellis/pseuds/campanellis
Summary: Joey‘s thoughts and feelings after failing grade eight. Heavily based off of his plot in his book.
Relationships: Joey Jeremiah & Archibald “Snake” Simpson, Joey Jeremiah & Derek “Wheels” Wheeler, Joey Jeremiah/Teresa Caruso
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Better Than Nothing

Summer was supposed to be fun.

Everyone knew this, it was just common knowledge. 

The weather was nice, there was time to lounge around inside and do nothing, or go outside and do _anything._

It was supposed to be fun— but it wasn’t. 

Instead of enjoying himself by relaxing or spending his time outside with his friends, Joey was alone.

Not only was he alone, he was _crushingly_ alone.

So that’s how he found himself standing in the living room, phone clutched tightly in his hands as he went over the very short list of people he could call. 

Someone that could make this already sucky day just a little bit better. A little less lonely. 

The list stopped at three. 

Snake, Wheels, and Teresa. All of which were mad at him at the moment.

They hadn’t talked to him in almost a week, which seemed like forever.

He supposed that he couldn’t really blame them. He’d probably be angry too if he had to deal with someone _so_ incredibly _stupid_.

The thought made him ache. 

It was a constant one that summer, one that lurked in the back of his mind and nagged at him. It was always there to remind him _, ‘don’t forget, you flunked! Smart people don’t flunk, remember?’_

He had said it himself, so it must be true. No matter _how_ many times Wheels, Snake, or anyone else tried to deny it. 

But If he was smart, he wouldn’t have flunked. It was just a fact, and it was one that he knew painfully well. 

Besides, he knew any attempts to disagree had to be out of pity. They were his friends, they were supposed to say stuff like that. 

And If he really was smart, then maybe he would actually know what to say to them. Maybe he’d be able to make it up to them and everything would be okay. He would be able to tell them how he really feels and make them understand. 

But he didn’t know what to say. 

He had no idea how to make things okay, and he had started to wonder if there was any way to, or if he had screwed up way too much to fix it now. 

It wasn’t something that he could easily make better, he had been practically ignoring them all summer. At least that’s what Snake had claimed when he and Wheels had stormed out of rehearsal a week ago.

It wasn’t on purpose, of course. 

He had just let himself get too wrapped up with the Battle of the Bands, which he had enthusiastically signed them up for that summer, and he had also let himself get too wrapped up in Teresa.

But didn’t they understand? The Battle of the Bands was like a second chance for him. Sure, it had absolutely nothing to do with school, but if they won— then maybe he could show people that he didn’t need school. 

He could show everyone that he could _still_ have a bright future, it wouldn’t matter how smart he was, it wouldn’t _matter_ that he had failed grade eight. 

At least he could pretend it didn’t matter, but deep down, he knew it did. 

It still mattered to _him_. 

He finally slammed the phone back onto the receiver, giving up on the idea of trying to call anyone for the time being, despite how much he really wanted to talk to someone. 

He had no idea what he’d even say, so there wasn’t really any point. He’d probably just say all the wrong things and screw it up even worse. 

Joey made his way upstairs, slamming his bedroom door a _bit_ too hard as he entered his room. 

His parents weren’t home yet, anyways. Both of them were at work, so It’s not like they were there to mind. 

He just needed something to do to pass the time. Something to get his mind off of things like school, his friends, the Battle of the Bands.

Things like Teresa.

His chest ached even more when he thought about her, making him grab the pillow nearest to him as he curled up on his bed, holding it as close as he possibly could to his chest.

He had met her through the Battle of the Bands, and from the start, well— he had thought she was cute. 

How could he not? She had really pretty blonde hair that swayed when she walked, and really bright blue eyes that lit up every single time she laughed at one of his jokes. 

It wasn’t just that, though. He felt like he could understand her. She was a bit of a ‘motormouth,’ a bit everywhere, just like him.

It felt good to have someone like her around, someone who could talk a mile a minute just like he could, someone who could listen to him talk just as much as he’d be willing to listen to her. 

Teresa was beautiful, funny, and sweet.

She was practically perfect. Still, he had managed to screw it up, it was another thing he had no idea how to fix.

Just like everything else.

He let his thoughts jump back to when she had snapped at him, even getting angry enough to call him stupid. It was particularly horrible hearing it come out of her mouth.

It felt like a stab to the chest, like all of his deepest fears had been confirmed. He didn’t want to be stupid, that’s for sure. 

But he knew that he was. 

He just didn’t want _her_ to know. But turns out, she already did. And what could he expect? It’s not like he oozes intelligence. He wasn’t like Snake, smart, always getting good grades, getting along with all of the teachers.

Still, he had thought that maybe he could play it off for a bit, he thought that maybe he could keep it hidden that he had failed grade eight. 

Maybe then she’d never realize how dumb he really was. Maybe it wouldn’t matter. 

Not if he faked it, not if he avoided the topic of school whenever they spoke. 

But she knew. _Everyone_ knew. 

And how could she like him now? He had ruined everything, and she was so much smarter than him, she had no reason to like him.

He imagined telling Snake and Wheels about her. About how she loved music just as much as he did, how she made him laugh and smile every time she spoke.

How, for a little while, she had actually seemed to look at him like he could do anything that he set his mind to. 

Joey knew it sounded stupid and sappy, but he had _really_ liked her. His friends would probably tease him if he had told them all of this, but he wouldn’t have really minded too much. He's sure they wouldn’t have minded it either.

And It would’ve been so much better than what he was doing now. 

Not telling them much about Teresa was one of the many reasons they were upset with him. Wheels would always try to meet her, even offering to have both of their bands play together sometime. 

But instead of agreeing, Joey had done whatever he could to keep Wheels away from her, which he supposed was a bad decision looking back. 

He just hadn’t wanted him to tell her anything about school, one misplaced joke, and everything between him and Teresa would have fallen apart.

They didn’t know this, though. Snake had thought that he was embarrassed or ashamed of them, but how could they not see who he was really embarrassed of?

Well, it didn’t matter now. He wasn’t able to talk to any of them anymore. 

He threw his pillow across his bed in frustration, sitting up and hugging his knees close to his chest. 

He wished desperately that it was still a few weeks ago, when things weren’t so lonely. Wheels had been sleeping over, they had spent their time watching what felt like a _hundred_ different movies together, just like they would when they were little kids. 

He had decided that he couldn’t lose his friends, even if he lost Teresa. He needed them, even if he didn’t want to admit that out loud. He had to find a way to make them forgive him, there had to be a way.

Joey would figure out _something_. He still didn’t know what to say, but he had settled on at least apologizing. That was a start. He’d invite them over for band practice, and hope for the best. 

Even if he felt like he couldn’t open up to them about Teresa, or about flunking, at least then he’d still have them around. 

And that was better than nothing. 


End file.
